Synthetically Engineered Artemisinin

Lianne Ryan

Statistics of Malaria

✴200-300 Million people are effected

each year

✴45% of the population is at risk, 95

countries

✴~1 million people die each year

✴Africa represents 81% of the people

effected by malaria and 90% of the

deaths

✴Africa accounts for 12% of the

population

✴Children under the age of 5 and

pregnant mothers living in Sub-

Saharan Africa (sub tropical climate)

Map of Malaria

Sub-Saharan Africa

South East Asia

South America

✴Five types of the protozoan

parasites under the genus

Plasmodium

Plasmodium Parasite

4) P. Falciparum

2) P. Vivax

3) P. Ovale

1) P. Malariae

5) P. Knowlesi

(Found worldwide)

(Newest)

(Mostly found in Asia and Latin America)

(Mostly found in the islands of the Western

Pacific)

(Called benign malaria)

Discovery of Artemisinin

✴Distilled from dried leaves

✴Discovered in the 4th century CE by

Chinese physicians

✴Used for its antipyretic properties

✴Called it qinghaosu

Foundation✴Sesquiterpene lactone which is a

compound made up of three isoprene

units that are bound to cyclic organic

esters

✴Effective against most plasmodium

parasites

Artesunate✴Artesunate is a semi-

synthetic derivative

✴Injected intravenously,

water soluble

✴Used in severe cases

where high levels of the

parasite is found in the

blood

Artemisinin✴Administered orally, intramuscularly or

as a suppository

✴Used in combination with other anti-

malarial drugs

✴ACT’s (Artemisinin-based combination

therapy)

✴Prevent plasmodium parasites from

developing a resistance to a particular

drug/ Prevent disease relapse

Artesunate-mefloquine

Artemether-lumefantrine

Artesunate-amodiaquine

Targeting the Parasite

✴Able to target the parasite at the

schizont stage

✴Schizont stage contains insoluble

iron

✴Comes after the parasite develops

into a sporozoite

✴Contains a peroxide group that is

able to react with hemozoin to

produce radicals that attack

parasite’s proteins

Plasmodium Parasite

Groups working with Artemisinin

✴Amyris started the Artemisinin Project

to provide affordable ACT’s to

developing countries

✴Used synbio to create microbial strains

that produce artemisinic acid

(precursor)

✴Create Artemisinic Acid-producing

yeast strains to Sanofi (royalty-free

basis)

✴Amyris is funded by the Bill & Melinda

Gates Foundation via OneWorld Health

(PATH’s Drug Development Program)

Groups working with Artemisinin

Work CitedAmyris. "The Malaria Project." Amyris. Amyris, n.d. Web. 24 July 2015. <https://amyris.com/collaborations/artemisinin/>.

"The Global Malaria Epidemic." U.S. Global Health Policy. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 July

2015. <https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/7882-04-2.pdf>.

John, Chandy C. Clinical Malaria. University: U of Minnesota Medical School, n.d. Print. Division of Global Pediatrics.

Kramer, Dan. "Artemisinin: A Synthetic Biology Success Story." Scitable. Nature Education, 23 June 2011. Web. 24 July

2015. <http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/bio2.0/artemisinin_a_synthetic_biology_success>.

"Malaria." Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 July 2015. <http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-

Do/Global-Health/Malaria>.

"Malaria." CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9 Nov. 2012. Web. 24 July 2015.

<http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/>.

Rogers, Kara. "Artemisinin." Encylopaedia Britannica. Encylopaedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 24 July 2015.

<http://www.britannica.com/science/artemisinin>.

Vyas, Jatin M., ed. "Malaria." MedlinePlus. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 19 May 2013. Web. 24 July 2015.

<http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000621.htm>.

White, Nick. Artemisinin therapy for malaria by Professor Nick White. Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 July 2015. <

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rzW-zfrmMA>.